Today is Sunday which means it’s LONG RUN day!  (Which also reminds me that I haven’t posted my training schedule yet…  I will do that tonight – I promise!)

Today I’m scheduled to run 11 miles – eight of which I am planning to run with Kath – who is training for her first half-marathon.  It is so nice to have a running partner again!  Ever since Lindsey and I ran our first Pig in 2008, I’ve been running pretty much solo.  Having a partner keeps me motivated and makes me look forward to runs, instead of dreading being alone in my head for hours at a time.

We were up early this morning, texting back and forth to figure out how to deal with this rain…

Alas, mother nature doesn’t seem to care about our running plans, so Kath and I might have to suck it up!  Sometimes a rainy run can be kind of fun though, because it gives you something other than the run to focus on. 

For FUEL, I made my typical pre-run breakfast – peanut butter and jelly!  Today’s was open-faced and toasted with chocolate peanut butter.  Mmmmmmmm.

A Facebook conversation earlier this week led me to realize that I may have never shared my peanut butter secret with you guys.  As a self-proclaimed PB addict, I don’t actually eat peanut butter.  You see I love it too much.  And while other bloggers somehow maintain superhuman willpower and portion control, I am just not capable. 

Enter the product that changed my life, and breakfasts forever – PB2 – powdered peanut butter.  Check out those nutrition facts!!  Regular peanut butter and nut butters are usually around 200 calories for 2 tablespoons.  PB2 is just a few cals over FIFTY for the same size.

It comes in both regular and chocolate (which I used today).  I know it sounds scary, but I promise you it is amaaaazing!  All you do is measure the dry powder (which I do on my food scale), and mix it with a tiny bit of water. 

You can make it as thick or as runny as you want, depending on what you prefer.  And for the big question – does it taste like regular peanut butter?  A lot of people say no.  And I guess I can agree, no it doesn’t taste exactly like regular peanut butter.  But the minute you consider that per serving you are getting 150 less calories for the same portion size, you’ve got my attention.  I absolutely love it – it is very nutty and flavorful, and I will never got back to regular PB.  And now that I’m used to it I think the regular stuff is way too intense!

Later this week I’ll show you how I make my perfect bowl of breakfast oatmeal – hot piping PB2 topping included!

For the rest of my breakfast, I dehydrated with coffee and rehydrated with water…

And now it’s time to layer up and get going!

See you on the other side of 11 miles!